Last night I finally got Twitter after being an avid Facebook fan.
I was glued to my computer until the early hours of the morning. I refreshed the screen every minute as I watched a protest in Azadi square grow from hundreds, to thousands to millions. For a few hours it felt like I was back in Tehran, amid the “Mousavi, get me back my vote” chants. I could almost smell that Tehran aroma of old tea, feel the tension and when the first reports of gun fire came it was hard not to flinch even though I was sitting on the other side of the planet.
I did my bit for the news cycle by listening to BBC Iran in Farsi and quickly translating their updates into English for the twitter community. Half the time I cursed myself for not paying more attention in Saturday school and having a Iranian vocabulary of a five year old. Here are some of my translated tweets:
shaghdoosti People are running away from Meydoon Azadi because of Gunfire shots BBC #iranelection
shaghdoosti Mousavi: The government needs to respect the people. BBC Iran #iranelection
shaghdoosti Khameni ordered Mousavi’s letter to be examined carefully under law-there is potential for a new election to be called. BBC Iran #iranelection
For me the tweets of Micro Bloger Azarnoush resident stood out. During the night he went from excited to scared to hopeful-no doubt a reflection of what millions of Iranians were feeling. Here are some of his updates:
azarnoushRT @jadi: Mousavi: People are standing for their right and I am ready to pay any price to defend your ideals. #IranElection
azarnoushBBC Confirmed shooting in Azadi square Tehran https://bit.ly/Il1kM #iranelection
azarnoushRT @jadi: No mobile coverage in Yazd city. #IranElection
azarnoushRT: @StopAhmadi: BBC reporter Lyne said “this is not thousands or 10s of thousands, we r looking at 1 to 2 million people” #iranelection
azarnoush[Shiraz] I am hearing people shouting from their roofs: “Allaho Akbar” , “Down with Dictator”. It’s 22:45. #iranelection
azarnoushMy 6 years old girl is singing ” AhmadiNejad give our votes back” 🙂 #iranelection
azarnoush@saulealexander No Arabik. I also know that they come question me after this. 🙂
azarnoush RT @jadi: Mousavi among people https://i39.tinypic.com/2zgy… #IranElection
What will happen next? For now all we can do is refresh and hope for the best.
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